''The Master of Ballantrae'' is a 1953 British Technicolor

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

starring

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia ...

and Roger Livesey. It is a loose and highly truncated adaptation of the

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

1889 novel of the same name. In eighteenth century Scotland, two sons of a laird clash over the family estate and a lady. It was the last film from director William Keighley.

Plot

At the Durrisdeer estate in Scotland in 1745, Jamie Durie (

), his younger brother Henry ( Anthony Steel) and their father Lord Durrisdeer (

Felix Aylmer Sir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones, OBE (21 February 1889 – 2 September 1979) was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television. Aylmer made appearances in films with comedians such as Will Hay and George Formby. Early ...

) receive news of the

Jacobite rising , war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active ...

. Their retainer, MacKellar ( Mervyn Johns), recommends that one brother join the uprising while the other remains loyal to King George II, so that whichever side wins, the family's status and estate will be preserved. Both brothers want to go. Jamie insists on tossing a coin for the privilege and wins, despite the opposition of his fiancée, Lady Alison (

Beatrice Campbell Beatrice Campbell (31 July 1922 – 10 May 1979) was an Irish stage and film actress, born in County Down, Northern Ireland, Biography Career After a distinguished London stage career, Campbell entered film in the mid-1940s. She received ...

). The rising is crushed at the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden (; gd, Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force under Prince Wi ...

. Evading British soldiers, Jamie falls in with an Irish adventurer, Colonel Francis Burke ( Roger Livesey). They return secretly to Durrisdeer to obtain money for passage to France. When Jamie's commoner mistress, Jessie Brown ( Yvonne Furneaux), sees him kissing Lady Alison, she betrays him to the English. Jamie is shot by Major Clarendon and falls into the sea. Henry becomes the heir to the estate on the presumption that Jamie is dead. Believing his brother betrayed him, a wounded Jamie and Burke take ship with smugglers to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, where they are betrayed by their captain McCauley and captured by

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

s led by French dandy Captain Arnaud (

Jacques Berthier Jacques Berthier (27 June 1923 – 27 June 1994) was a French composer of liturgical music, best known for writing much of the music used at Taizé Community, Taizé. Biography Berthier was born in Auxerre, Burgundy (region), Burgundy; both of ...

). Jamie goes into partnership with Arnaud. When they reach the port of Tortugas Bay, they see a rich Spanish

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch War ...

captured by fellow buccaneer Captain Mendoza ( Charles Goldner). Arnaud agrees to Jamie's proposal that they steal the ship. However, once they have seized the galleon, Arnaud turns on Jamie. Jamie kills Arnaud in a sword duel and takes command. They sail for Scotland. Jamie returns to the family estate, rich with pirate treasure, to find a celebration in progress for Henry's betrothal to Alison. Unable to contain himself, Jamie confronts his brother, despite the presence of British officers. A fight breaks out, in which Henry tries to aid Jamie. The unequal fight ends with Jamie and Burke condemned to death. Jessie helps them escape, at the cost of her own life. Henry also assists them. Jamie tells his brother of the location of some treasure which Henry can then use to pay off Jamie's gambling debts. Alison elects to go with Jamie to an uncertain future and she, Burke and Jamie all ride off together.

Cast

as Jamie Durie * Roger Livesey as Colonel Francis Burke * Anthony Steel as Henry Durie *

as Lady Alison * Yvonne Furneaux as Jessie Brown *

as Lord Durrisdeer * Mervyn Johns as MacKellar * Charles Goldner as Captain Mendoza * Ralph Truman as Major Clarendon * Francis de Wolff as Matthew Bull, Arnaud's Quarter Master *

as Captain Arnaud * Gillian Lynne as Marianne, a dancer favored by Mendoza

Production

Development

Walker Whiteside toured the US with a play version of the novel in 1935. Warner Bros purchased the screen rights to the novel in 1950. The novel was in the public domain in the US but still in copyright in certain European countries. The purchase was made with funds "frozen" by the British government i.e. money earned by Warners in Britain which they could not take out of the country. Warner Bros announced on 7 September 1950 that they would make the film, with shooting to take place in England. (Warners had just made another sea-faring tale, '' Captain Horatio Hornblower'', in England.) The following year it was announced that Joe Gottesman would be producer and

Herb Meadow Herb Meadow (May 27, 1911 – March 1, 1995) was an American television producer and writer, born 1911 in Brooklyn, New York, best known for creating such series as ''Have Gun – Will Travel''. Early years Meadow grew up in Brooklyn. A ninth ...

was doing the adaptation., In 1952 it was announced that Errol Flynn would star and the film would be known as ''The Sea Rogue''. Anthony Steel, who had impressed in some British films, was signed to play his brother; it was his biggest role in a Hollywood financed film to date.

Filming

The film was shot in Great Britain in 1952 from June 25 through to August, with location work in Cornwall and the Scottish Highlands with the pirate sequences done in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

in Sicily.Tony Thomas, Rudy Behlmer & Clifford McCarty, ''The Films of Errol Flynn'', Citadel Press, 1969 p 194 Shooting took place six days a week. Fencing champion Sgt Robert Anderson from the (British) Royal Marines went on leave to participate in the film. Filming went very smoothly, in contrast to many Errol Flynn movies around this time. The star was co-operative and well behaved and enjoyed the experience. "Playing in that period piece made me realise how that must have been the heyday of great lovers", Flynn said. "In the 18th century men treated their women either angels or scullery maids. You were either gallantly or roughly romantic, and the women expected it one way or the other."

Reception

Critical

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called it Flynn's best swashbuckler since ''

The Sea Hawk ''The Sea Hawk'' is a 1915 novel by Rafael Sabatini. The story is set over the years 1588–1593 and concerns a retired Cornish seafaring gentleman, Sir Oliver Tressilian, who is villainously betrayed by a jealous half-brother. After being ...

''. "Flynn himself hasn't been served better in years", wrote the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' called the film "a chaotic tale deserving of his lynn'sundisputed prowess." ''Filmink'' magazine wrote that "the story has no real villain and is robbed of its point." It was the last film Flynn made under contract to

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

, ending an association that had lasted for 18 years and 35 films.

References

External links

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Review
at ''Variety'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Master Of Ballantrae, The (1953 film) 1953 films Films shot at Associated British Studios Films based on British novels Films based on works by Robert Louis Stevenson Films directed by William Keighley Films set in Scotland Films set in the 1740s Pirate films British swashbuckler films Warner Bros. films Films scored by William Alwyn Jacobite rising of 1745 films 1950s historical adventure films British historical adventure films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films